{"id":43,"date":"2022-08-16T15:45:17","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T15:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/?p=43"},"modified":"2024-03-05T15:49:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T15:49:01","slug":"wcsu-graduate-student-invests-in-cyanobacteria-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/2022\/08\/16\/wcsu-graduate-student-invests-in-cyanobacteria-research\/","title":{"rendered":"WCSU graduate student Maria Rodriguez-Hernandez invests in cyanobacteria research"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"(l-r):

(l-r): Kelsey Sudol, a research assistant with the Lake Waramaug task force, with Maria Rodriguez-Hernandez at the lake. Sudol was demonstrating how to use a rake to pull up aquatic plants for identification.<\/p><\/div>\n

Maria Rodriguez-Hernandez, a\u00a0Western Connecticut State University<\/a>\u00a0 graduate student enrolled in the\u00a0Master of Science in Integrative Biological Diversity<\/a>\u00a0program, is working to save Lake Waramaug from the infestation of cyanobacteria. She began her research efforts at Lake Waramaug last summer through a part-time summer job and expanded it to become part of her pursuit of a master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n

During her internship, Rodriguez-Hernandez managed the zooplankton farm at Lake Waramaug. Zooplankton are tiny animals living in lakes and many feed on algae and cyanobacteria (aka blue-green algae). However, the population of larger zooplankton in Lake Waramaug decreased following the stocking of alewife \u2013 a small fish stocked years ago to improve the gamefish population. Without the larger zooplankton to feed on the algae, cyanobacteria levels in the lake are thought to have increased. Rodriguez-Hernandez hopes to help return the zooplankton population to its former state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty excited to do my thesis,\u201d Rodriguez-Hernandez said. \u201cIt has changed the way I see problems with water quality.\u201d When Rodriguez-Hernandez was younger, she went with her father to see rivers and lakes in Wisconsin. She has always felt connected to them and understands how valuable water is. \u201cI\u2019ve always cared about the environment and all the aspects of environmental conservation,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

WCSU Professor of\u00a0Biology<\/a>\u00a0Dr. Theodora Pinou<\/a>, coordinator of the Integrative Biodiversity program, invited Rodriguez-Hernandez to come to Connecticut to conduct research at Lake Waramaug. She looks forward to seeing the progress of Hernandez\u2019s research efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s great, hardworking, and tries to fund herself,\u201d said Pinou. \u201cShe looks for ways to give 100 percent of herself to her research.\u201d Rodriguez-Hernandez\u2019s research project is funded by the\u00a0Lake Waramaug Task Force.<\/a>\u00a0Pinou said that Rodriguez-Hernandez \u201cnever had an opportunity to have her own project\u201d and the task force gave her the chance to invest her time in it. The task force also is covering her costs to enroll in Limnology studies at WCSU.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez-Hernandez also has been awarded a grant from the\u00a0Connecticut Institute of Water Resources<\/a>, which will enable her to work with adjunct faculty member\u00a0Larry Marsicano<\/a>\u00a0\u201988, who is a practicing limnologist and teaches the Limnology course at WCSU.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez-Hernandez\u2019s research has the potential to create solutions that can benefit other lakes as well as saving the human and animal populations. \u201cCyanobacteria is a really big issue happening all over the world with marine waters and in lakes,\u201d she said. \u201cThe worst part of the cyanobacteria is that it is in our drinking water. It makes a lot of humans and animals sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pinou pointed out the strategies for addressing this matter. \u201cOne way to address this is to find the organism balance and look at developing new ways to address bacterial blooms,\u201d she said. Pinou said the most concerning aspect of this research is that the bacteria \u201care not being controlled; they are exploding,\u201d which can be one of the leading causes of climate change. If the cyanobacteria population is not dealt with, there will be underlying effects in the community and possibly around the world.<\/p>\n

To learn more about WCSU\u2019s M.S. in Integrative Biological Diversity program, go to\u00a0www.wcsu.edu\/biology-msbiodiversity.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.<\/em><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maria Rodriguez-Hernandez, a\u00a0Western Connecticut State University\u00a0 graduate student enrolled in the\u00a0Master of Science in Integrative Biological Diversity\u00a0program, is working to save Lake Waramaug from the infestation of cyanobacteria. She began her research efforts at Lake Waramaug last summer through a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":42,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}